Rain doesn't stop play for girls at Newbury Rugby Club's 'Pitch Up and Play' festival

The torrential downpours didn’t stop dozens of girls enjoying a festival of rugby in Newbury at the weekend.

More than 60 girls from rugby clubs across Berkshire and Hampshire came together for Newbury Rugby Club’s second ‘Pitch Up and Play’ event.

The new initiative – which was hosted at the club’s Monks Lane ground - aims to give girls a “much better playing experience”.

Newbury’s Under 13 girls manager, Rhiannon Dargan, said: “Most of these clubs have quite small numbers which makes having fixtures difficult, but by combining teams at these events we can give the girls a much better playing experience.

“The weather was really quite challenging but the girls, coaches and parents all persevered and there was some really positive feedback at the end.”

Mrs Dargan said the club was planning more of the events this season and into next season, where the girls will get the chance to prepare for becoming Under 14s, after a change in the age grade made by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for next season.

She added that the hot chocolates provided to all the muddy players after the matches had put smiles on their faces.

“We are looking forward to taking part in more of these events and also hosting another in hopefully better weather conditions before the end of the season,” she said. “We are also always looking for new players who would like to take part.

“Please contact us through Newbury RFC and we would be delighted to meet you.”

The event came just a week after the Duchess of Cambridge was announced as the new patron of the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League.

Catherine, who grew up in Bucklebury, took over the role previously held by Prince Harry.

She spent the day at Twickenham recently meeting players from the men's and women's England teams.